Variable pitch fuel supplier and an oven for use with the same

ABSTRACT

An oven for use with a variable pitch fuel supplier and for use with biomass fuel. The oven has a body which is able to be placed on the ground. The body has a combustion cabinet and an auxiliary equipment cabinet. The combustion cabinet has a burner received therein and the auxiliary equipment cabinet has a fuel supplier and an electrical equipment received therein. The fuel supplier has a hopper, a fuel tube, and a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in the fuel tube. The electrical equipment has a power supply and a feeding motor driving the rotary vane feeder. Pitches vary larger from a tail end to a free end of the rotary vane feeder.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a variable pitch fuel supplier and a biomass fuel oven for use with the fuel supplier, and more particularly, to an energy saving and anti-clogging fuel supplier and the biomass fuel oven for use with the supplier. Biomass fuel is granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks.

2. Description of Related Art

Biomass fuel is granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks. As a new energy solution, biomass fuel has wider and wider been used because it is hygienic, environmental, high efficient, and economic.

A conventional biomass oven generally has a body which is able to be levelly placed on the ground. The body has a combustion cabinet and an auxiliary equipment cabinet. The combustion cabinet has a burner received therein and the auxiliary equipment cabinet has a fuel supplier and an electrical equipment received therein. The fuel supplier has a hopper, a fuel tube, a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in the fuel tube, and a feeding motor for driving the rotary vane feeder. The fuel tube is a cylindrical tube having a feeding end in the auxiliary cabinet and a discharge end above the burner. The rotary vane feeder is received in the fuel tube and has a central shaft and a spiral vane spirally distributing around the central shaft for pushing the fuel. The spiral vane has an equidistant pitch. The central shaft has a tail end being coupled to the feeding motor and a free end at the discharge end of the fuel tube. An opening is defined in the fuel tube at the feeding end. The opening is in communication with a lower portion of the hopper.

Fuel granule in the hopper is able to drop into the fuel tube through the opening under gravity. The spiral vane is driven to rotate by the feeding motor, pushing the fuel granule entered the fuel tube to move towards the discharge end of the fuel tube. The fuel granule falls down into the burner under gravity after passing over the discharge end. The fuel is thus able to be conveyed from the hopper to the burner.

The biggest drawback of this conventional fuel supplier is that the fuel granule is very liable to clog in the fuel tube. The most often used way to resolve the clog is to increase power of the feeding motor. But a higher power always means a more expensive feeding motor, higher power consumption, and larger noises.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the invention is to provide a variable pitch fuel supplier which is able to effectively decrease clog of biomass fuel granule in a feeding tube.

Another object of the invention is to provide an oven for use with the variable pitch fuel supplier in which biomass fuel granule is not liable to clog in the feeding tube thereof.

In order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an oven for use with a variable pitch fuel supplier and for use with biomass fuel. The oven has a body which is able to be placed on the ground. The body has a combustion cabinet and an auxiliary equipment cabinet. The combustion cabinet has a burner received therein and the auxiliary equipment cabinet has a fuel supplier and an electrical equipment received therein. The fuel supplier has a hopper, a fuel tube, and a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in the fuel tube. The electrical equipment has a power supply and a feeding motor driving the rotary vane feeder. The fuel tube is of cylindrical and has a feeding end in the auxiliary cabinet and a discharge end above the burner. The rotary vane feeder has a central shaft and a spiral vane spirally distributing around the central shaft. The central shaft has a tail end being coupled to the feeding motor and a free end at the discharge end of the fuel tube. Pitches vary larger from the tail end to the free end.

The oven of the invention has following beneficial effects. The fuel granule in the fuel supplier between the pitches which vary larger and larger from the tail end to the free end falls relatively loose and will not generate a great friction force with an inner wall of the fuel tube. A possibility of clog of the fuel granule in the fuel tube is thus able to be decreased. A performance of the fuel supplier becomes more stable. And since there is no more a large amount of friction brought by clog, a feeding motor of lower power is able to be employed, which will bring a lower energy consumption and lower noises.

These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the preferred embodiment of an oven of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the oven shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of an electrical equipment of the oven shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 a is a schematic perspective view of a variable pitch feeder of the oven show in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 b is a side plane view of the variable pitch feeder shown in FIG. 4 a.

FIG. 5 a is a schematic perspective view of another variable pitch feeder of the oven shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. And,

FIG. 5 b is a side plane view of the variable pitch feeder shown in FIG. 5 a.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Shown in FIG. 1 is the preferred embodiment of the invention, an oven for use with a variable pitch fuel supplier. The oven has a body 1 which is able to be levelly placed on the ground. The body 1 has a combustion cabinet 10 and an auxiliary equipment cabinet 20.

Together with reference to FIG. 2, the combustion cabinet 10 has a burner 30 received therein. The auxiliary equipment cabinet 20 has a fuel supplier 40 and an electrical equipment 50 received therein. The fuel supplier 40 has a hopper 41, a fuel tube 42, and a rotary vane feeder 43 rotatably received in the fuel tube 42. The electrical equipment 50 has a feeding motor 52 for driving the rotary vane feeder 43. The fuel tube 42 is of cylindrical and has a feeding end 421 in the auxiliary cabinet 20 and a discharge end 422 above the burner 30. The rotary vane feeder 43 is received in the fuel tube 42.

With reference to FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, the rotary vane feeder 43 has a central shaft 431 and a spiral vane 432 spirally distributing around the central shaft 432 for pushing fuel. The central shaft 431 has a tail end 433 being coupled to the feeding motor 52 and a free end 434 at the discharge end 422 of the fuel tube 42. Pitches “h” varies larger from the tail end 433 to the free end 434. In the rotary vane feeder 43 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 a and 4 b, the spiral vane 432 is two-stage type in which the pitch “h1” of the free end 434 is equal and the pitch “h2” of the tail end is equal, but “h1” is larger than “h2”. In the rotary vane feeder 43 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 a and 5 b, the pitch “h3” gradually varies larger and larger from the tail end 433 to the free end 434.

An opening is defined in the fuel tube 42 at the feeding end 421. The opening is in communication with a lower portion of the hopper 41. Fuel granule 60 in the hopper 41 is able to drop into the fuel tube 42 through the opening under gravity. The spiral vane 432 of the rotary vane feeder 43 is driven to rotate by the feeding motor 52, pushing the fuel granule 60 entered the fuel tube 42 to move towards the discharge end 422 of the fuel tube 42. The fuel granule 60 falls down into the burner 30 under gravity after passing over the discharge end 422. The fuel 60 is thus able to be conveyed from the hopper 41 to the burner 30.

The electrical equipment 50, as shown in FIG. 3, has an ignition bar 51 for igniting the fuel granule 60, the feeding motor 62 for driving the rotary vane feeder 43, an air blower 53 for supplying air to the burner 30, a power supply 54, a switch 55 and a power light 56. The power supply 54 may be an independent alternating current/direct current power supply 541, having or having not a storage battery 542 in parallel as auxiliary. Either the alternating current/direct current power supply 541 or the storage battery 542 is able to supply power independently. The switch 55 is installed on the auxiliary equipment cabinet 20 and able to control the power supply of whole circuit. The power light 56 is also installed on the auxiliary equipment cabinet 20 near the switch 55 and used to indict status of power supply.

Fuel 60 is biomass fuel granule made by smashed and then briquetted straw, bits of wood, or crop stalks.

From above description, it is seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. Embodiment of the invention has been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from the invention's principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims. 

1. An oven for use with a variable pitch fuel supplier and for use with biomass fuel comprising: a body which is able to be placed on the ground, said body having a combustion cabinet and an auxiliary equipment cabinet, said combustion cabinet having a burner received therein, said auxiliary equipment cabinet having a fuel supplier and an electrical equipment received therein, said fuel supplier having a hopper, a fuel tube, and a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in said fuel tube, said electrical equipment having a power supply and a feeding motor driving said rotary vane feeder, said fuel tube being of cylindrical and having a feeding end in said auxiliary cabinet and a discharge end above said burner, said rotary vane feeder having a central shaft and a spiral vane spirally distributing around said central shaft, said central shaft having a tail end being coupled to said feeding motor and a free end at said discharge end of said fuel tube, pitches varying larger from said tail end to said free end.
 2. The oven as claimed in claim 1, wherein said spiral vane is two-stage type in which pitch “h1” of said free end is equal and pitch “h2” of said tail end is equal, but “h1” is larger than “h2”.
 3. The oven as claimed in claim 1, wherein pitch gradually varies larger and larger from said tail end to said free end.
 4. The oven as claimed in claim 1, wherein said electrical equipment further has an ignition bar, an air blower for supplying air to said burner, a switch and a power light.
 5. A variable pitch fuel supplier comprising: a hopper, a fuel tube, and a rotary vane feeder rotatably received in said fuel tube, said electrical equipment having a power supply and a feeding motor driving said rotary vane feeder, said fuel tube being of cylindrical and having a feeding end in said auxiliary cabinet and a discharge end above said burner, said rotary vane feeder having a central shaft and a spiral vane spirally distributing around said central shaft, said central shaft having a tail end being coupled to said feeding motor and a free end at said discharge end of said fuel tube, pitches varying larger from said tail end to said free end.
 6. The variable pitch fuel supplier as claimed in claim 5, wherein said spiral vane is two-stage type in which pitch “h1” of said free end is equal and pitch “h2” of said tail end is equal, but “h1” is larger than “h2”.
 7. The variable pitch fuel supplier as claimed in claim 5, wherein pitch gradually varies larger and larger from said tail end to said free end. 